Collaborative working can help achieve significant cost savings and efficiencies. Understanding team members better through neuroscience principles like identifying strengths and avoiding threats to status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness (SCARF model) can improve team performance and project outcomes. The brain prioritizes survival and forming relationships, so being aware of how changes can threaten established brain maps and inadvertently trigger negative emotions is important for effective collaboration.

1. Collaborative
working
How to
understand
people better

2. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2007
Collaboration
“the act of working
together with one or more
people in order to achieve
something”

3. Why collaboration?
33%
less costs
50%
emissions
50%
delivery time
50%
import/ export
trade gap
2025 Targets - Industry Strategy for Construction

4. The UK Government
believes collaborative
working will achieve this

5. How can understanding
team members help?

6. Neuroscience

7. The Mighty Minds by Brenda Hales
“… the exciting part is how
we can align individuals’
natural human desires with
maximising organisational
performance ”

8. Self awareness

9. Things
you enjoy
Things you
are good at
Aim here

10. Discovering strengths

11. Your
strengths
Your
teams
strengths

12. If you knew this, how
would it benefit
you
your team
the project outcome

13. S.C.A.R.F

14. Status
Certainty
Autonomy
Relatedness
Fairness
Dr David Rock, Neuroleadership Institute
Everyone needs

15. S.C.A.R.F model used for
Self control
Self awareness
Awareness of others

16. S.C.A.R.F model used for
Reminding us how easy it
is to inadvertently
threaten survival
Identifying a better way
to achieve required
objective

17. Identify others bad
behaviours
What can you do
differently
tomorrow?
Status
Certainty
Autonomy
Relatedness
Fairness

18. What is the worst
behaviour on your project
at the moment?

19. What is the worst
behaviour on your project
at the moment?
Which of the SCARF identifiers
might be causing this
behaviour?

20. Brain maps
Brain concepts with huge
organisational implications

21. The brains
primary
function is to
keep us safe
Creative Commons Wade

22. It is about 5 times more
alert to threat than
opportunity
If in doubt the brain will
perceive threat

23. People have
developed the
need to be in
good
relationships
with others

24. We have specialised cells –
probably only to empathise
with each other
Good relationships are
essential to create and
maintain effective brains

25. The brain operates
efficiently by making
patterns/ maps

26. Patterns are so important
that we make them up with
very few facts
The more often you do
something it becomes a
more laid down map

27. This explains why change
is difficult

28. Fear
Anger
Disgust
Shame
Sadness
8 Primary Emotions & Responses
Survive
Threat avoidance
Defensiveness
Attack
Startle/ surprise
Excitement
Trust
Thrive
Relate
Create
Motivate
OR

29. So, to understand people
better…

30. Discover Strengths
Yours and your teams

31. Use S.C.A.R.F
Don’t undermine any of these

32. Understand brain maps
Be conscious that change is hard

33. Thank you
enquiries@clarksonalliance.com
T: 01865 355580
W: clarksonalliance.com
@CAProjects_